Texas woman indicted for ricin-laced letter to Obama

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas actress was indicted and charged with sending ricin-laced letters to U.S. President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday.

Shannon Guess Richardson, 35, of New Boston, Texas, was arrested on June 7.

A federal grand jury accused her in a three-count indictment of mailing the letters to Obama, Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group founded by Bloomberg that lobbies for stricter gun laws.

She faces up to five years in federal prison on each charge if convicted, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney John Bales of the Eastern District of Texas.

The letters read, in part: "You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face," according to court documents.

Richardson, who has played minor roles on television, had tried to blame her husband for sending the letters, prosecutors have said.